Tethered projectile having loop and pocketed targets

ABSTRACT

Game apparatus having an open-end ring target supported by a shaft in a central bearing within a base having peripheral scoreindicating indicia thereon, and a flexible tether has a small ring connector on one end which moves freely around said open-end ring target and shaft thereof. A projectile on the other end of the tether is of smaller diameter than said open-end ring target and is adapted to be projected through said ring target and into scoring position relative to said score-indicating indicia.

v United States Patent 1191 Crowder [4 1 Apr. 3, 1973 54] TETHERED PROJECTILE HAVING 3,672,676 6/1972 Goldfarb ..273 9s A LOOP AND POCKETED TARGETS William E. Crowder, RD. No. 1, Mount Wolf. P11. l7347 Filed: Oct. 18, 1971 Appl. No.: 190,047

inventor:

US. Cl. ..273/98, 273/95 A, 273/123 R Int. Cl. ..A63b 71/02 Field of Search ..273/95 A, 97 R, 98, 102 R,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1905 Martin"; ..273 9s ..273/98 Breslow ..273/127 R 6/1971 Crowder..... 3/1972 Primary ExaminerRichard C. Pinkham Assistant Examiner-Marvin Siskind Atrorney-C. Hercus Just [57] ABSTRACT Game apparatus having an open-end ring target supported by a shaft in a central bearing within a base having peripheral score-indicating indicia thereon, and a flexible tether has a small ring connector on one end which moves freely around said open-end ring target and shaft thereof. A projectile on the other end of the tether is of smaller diameter than said open-end ring target and is adapted to be projected through said ring target and into scoring position relative to said someindicating indicia.

10 Claims, 4 Dravving Figures PATENTEUAPR 3 I975 a INVENTOR. 3V2 W/l. L MM 5. C ROM/DER 1 TETl-IERED PROJECTILE HAVING LOOP AND POCKETED TARGETS CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application pertains to a game apparatus intended primarily to be played upon a floor or table and in certain basic structural principles is similar to some of those embodied in more athletic type of games comprising the subject matter of applicants two additional co-pending applications filed on even date herewith and respectively entitled Projectile-type Game Apparatus and a bowling-type game entitled Ball Game Apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Various types of games have been devised and patented heretofore in which a projectile on a tether is 'projected in various ways with respect to target devices, whereby either prizes may be awarded or scores may be computed by certain means provided on the apparatus. Among the devices of this type which are-covered by prior patents are: U.S. Pat. No. 536,176, dated Mar. 26, 1895 and US. Pat. No. 2,570,860, dated Oct. 9, 1951.

In an effort to provide additional games which employ tethered projectiles which may be operated in conjunction 'with different types of scoring apparatus, in which the scoring is controlled somewhat by skill but also by chance, the present apparatus has been developed to provide amusement either for a single player or a plurality of players in competition with each other.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is the principal purpose of the present invention to provide a game apparatus in which an open-end ring target is mounted upon a shaft that is rotatably supported preferably centrally of a base uponwhich scoreindicating means are arranged, and a projectile is connected by a tether to said open-end ring target, by a free sliding connecting ring, for projection of .the projectile through the open-end ring target and thereby determine, both by skill and chance, a possible score in accordance with the position of the projectile and tether relative to said score-indicating means.

It is another object of the invention to provide a central portion of the base at a higher elevation than the peripheral portion and connect these two portions at different elevations by an annular inclined surface, whereby the projectile may be initially projected from the lower elevation and engage the inclined portion .to facilitate the projection of the projectile through the ring target or loop to which it is connected by said tether.

A further object of the invention is to loosely connect one end of the tether to said ring in order that the projection of the projectile is capable of rotating the ring about the axis of the bearing in the base and thus set up a different position of the ring with respect to the score-indicating means on the base either for the next operation by a single player, for example, or by the next player of a group of players.

Still another object of theinvention is to provide a plurality of different score-indicating means on the BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a plan view of a exemplary embodiment of game apparatus employing the principles of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view of the game apparatus shown in FIG. 1 as seen on the line 2- 2 thereof.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary side elevation showing one preferred manner of manually projecting the projectile of the'apparatus shown in the preceding figures through a pivotally'supported ring of the apparatus, various successive positions of the projectile being illustrated in phantom and the pivotal nature of the ring also being indicated by directional arrows and one additional position shown in phantom.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary elevation of a detail of the invention as seen on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1. I

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be seen that a base 10 is shown which, specifically and preferably is circular. I-Iowever, said shape, while convenient and useful, is not to be considered restrictive since other polygonal figures may be used. The base, as seen from FIG. 2, is of predetermined thickness and may be formed from any suitable metal, molded from synthetic resin, formed from wood, ceramic material, or otherwise.

Preferably, the base has a central portion 12, the upper surface of which is at a higher elevation than the upper surface portion of the peripheral area 14 and is at least slightly concaved for purposes to be described. The outer rim portion and central portion of the base 10 are at different elevations and are connected by an annular inclined or sloping surface 16 which comprises an important part of the function of playing a game in accordance with the apparatus comprising the present invention.

The central higher portion 12 of base 10 is provided with a central bearing 18 which, preferably, is of the anti-friction type. Actually, a pair of anti-friction bearing units 20 are mounted within the overallbearing 18 for purposes of supporting a. substantially vertical or perpendicular shaftv 22, the upper end of which is formed in the shape of a ring or loop 24 in which one end thereof is spaced at 25 from shaft 22. The shaft and loop 24 may be formed from suitable metal, synthetic resin, or otherwise. Loosely connected at one end to the loop 24, or the base portion thereof, is a flexible tether 26 of predetermined length and of suitable material such as string or the like, which may be formed from conventional vegetable or synthetic textile fibers or otherwise. A light weight chain or cable also may be used as the tether, if desired.

One end of the tether 26 preferably is provided with a small loop or ring 28 which loosely receives the loop 24 to connect the tether thereto. Connected to the opposite end of the tether 26 is a projectile 30 which, preferably, is in the form of a ball, but other geometrical configurations may be employed, if desired. Also, in one embodiment of the apparatus, the tether 26 preferably is at least slightly longer than the radial distance of the axis of shaft 22 from the periphery 32 of base 10. The space 25 in target loop 24 is to permit tether 26 to drop therethrough after the projectile has passed through the target loop. As shown in phantom at the left-hand side of FIG. 2, the projectile 30 may actually extend in play slightly beyond the periphery 32 of base 10, when it comes to rest after a projection, in order to function in the scoring operations of the apparatus, as described in detail hereinafter. v

The peripheral area 14 of one embodiment of the base 10 is of limited or predetermined radial dimension and preferably is substantially horizontal. It may be supported by an appropriate horizontal surface 34 such as the top of a table or other similar object of furniture. The base l-also may be disposed upon a floor surface, particularly'if children are playing the game.

The base also is provided with a plurality of scoreindicating means such as a plurality of peripherally spaced ribs 36, one of the preferred shapes of which is best illustrated in FIG. 4. The ribs 36 also-preferably are oflimited radial length as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The base 10 also is provided with score-indicating indicia 38, as shown in FIG. 1. These may be numerals, as shown,or other types of indicia such as figures of different objects, especially if adapted for play by children. Still further, additional score-indicating means are provided in the form of a plurality of recesses 40 of suitable dimension to readily receive a projectile 30 incident to playing the game. Still other score-affecting means are provided in the form of a plurality of holes 42 which are formed in the concaved central elevated portion 12 of base 10 and are'ofa larger diameter than the projectile 30 so as to be capable of receiving the same. If desired, the holes 42 may be of different diameters but all are larger than that of the projectile 30. They also may be relatively deep cavities or recesses.

. METHOD OF PLAY As illustrated in exemplary manner in FIG. 3, the preferred method of playing a game with the apparatus comprising the present invention, as illustrated on the accompanying drawing and described hereinabove, comprises disposing the projectile 30 preferably on the horizontal upper surface of the peripheral area or portion.14 of the base 10. Depending upon the specific rules adopted for the game, a player initially place the projectile 30 at a desired position upon the surface 14 or, for example, he may have to play the projectile 30 from the position left by the preceding player.

Further, depending upon the provisions of the game, the loop 24 may be disposed by the player transversely to a line of sight between the loop and the projectile so as to afford the best possibility of the player projecting the projectile throughthe loop. The player then may, for example, snap his index or middle finger with respecttohis thumb against the projectile in an effort to project it through the loop 24. This will cause the projectile to ride up upon the annular inclined surface l6 and thereby elevate the projectile adequately to pass it through the loop 24, if the shot is accurate, and the projectile then either will roll down the opposite side of the inclined surface 16 or otherwise be disposed either within one of the recesses 40 or beyond the periphery 32 of base 10. I

The various scoring possibilities may result from the location of the projectile 30 with respect to the base following a projecting go by an individual player. For example, if the projectile 30 extends beyond the periphery 32 of base 10, as shown in phantom, at the left-hand side of FIG. 2, the tether 26 nevertheless will be disposed between a pair of the score-indicating ribs 36. These ribs define segments to which arbitrary score values have been assigned, as shown by the indicia 38 in FIG. 1. If, for example, the projectile 30 happens to repose in one of the recesses 40, the scoring arrangement could be such that an added score, such as 5 points, is credited to the playersscore, in addition to the value of the segment indicated by the indicia 38, or by doubling the value of any indicia adjacent the recess 40 in which the projectile reposes.

The foregoing proposed scoring means are of an additive nature. However, if a player is unfortunate enough to have the projectile 30 either hit the loop 24 or otherwise be disposed upon the upper surface of central portion 12 and pass downwardly into one of the holes or recesses 42 in said portion, such an occurrence would have a subtractive effect of pre-arranged value upon the players score. I

It also will be seen that in the event a player is unable to project the projectile 30 through the loop 24 but the projectile nevertheless passes, for example, to the opposite side of the base 10, the impetus of the projectile and the tether 26 is such that it will cause .the loop 24 to be rotated about the axis of shaft 22 a certain amount, depending upon the force of the projection of projectile 30 and this phenomenon also can be taken into account in the scoring rules as well as the method of play,

'as desired.

A still further possibility of play contemplated by this invention is that the projectile may be of an elastic or resilient nature such as a rubber ball or a hollow plastic ball similar to a conventional ping-pong ball and the method of play comprises that a player must bounce the ball upon a playing surface adjacent the periphery of base 10 and their project it through .the ring target from such launching bounce. Further, the base 10-may be-sufficiently large or marked off on an outdoor field so as to comprise an outdoor field-type game.

From the foregoing, will be seen that the game apparatus comprising the subject matter of the present invention is capable of a relatively wide range of different types of methods of play and scoring, and the same may be utilized either by a single player or a plurality of players. The game is capable of being manufactured at relatively low cost and packed attractively for merchandising. Various colorings and aesthetic effects may be employed in the various components of the apparatus to further add to the enjoyment and salability of the product.

While the invention has been described and illustrated in its-several preferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the precise details herein illustrated and described since the same may be carried out in the other ways falling within the scope of the invention as illustrated and described.

lclaim:

1. Game apparatus comprising in combination a base having a periphery and adapted to be supported upon a surface in substantially horizontal position, a bearing mounted in said base intermediately of the periphery thereof, a shaft unit rotatably supported in said bearing substantially perpendicularly to said base and having a target loop on the upper end thereof, a flexible tether connected at one end to said shaft unit, a ball-like projectile of small diameter than said target loop connected to the other end of said tether, said target loop being positioned a distance less than the diameter of the ball-like projectile above the top of said base, and a plurality of score-indicating means on said base positioned radially outward from said shaft and circumferentially spaced from each other, whereby said projectile may be projected by a player through said loop on said shaft to dispose said projectile and tether at random chance positions relative to said score indicating means to effect a score thereby.

2. The game apparatus according to claim 1 in which the upper surface portion of said base adjacent said bearing is at a higher elevation than the upper peripheral surface portion thereof, said base also having an annular inclined surface between the respective elevations of said base surface portions to facilitate the projection of said projectile by a player through said loop from said lower surface portion.

3. The game apparatus according to claim 2 in which said score-indicating means are on said lower surface portion adjacent the periphery of said base.

' 4. The game apparatus according to claim 2 in which said higher surface portion is provided with a plurality of openings larger in diameter than said projectile and positioned adjacent said shaft for reception of said projectile and thereby comprise part of said score-indicating means of said apparatus.

5. The game apparatus according to claim 4 in which said higher surface is concaved.

6. The game apparatus according to claim 1 in which said score-indicating means comprisea series of substantially radially extending rib means spaced peripherally from each other and provided on the upper surface of said base adjacent the periphery thereof, whereby said tether will be disposed by gravity on one side or the other of said rib means to determine a score, and score value indicia being provided on the segments of said base between said rib means.

7. The game apparatus according to claim 6 further including additional score-indicating means on said base comprising recesses positioned between said rib one end of said target loop being spaced from the adjacent shaft of said shaft unit adequately to permit said ringoand tether to pass therethrough.

. The game apparatus according to claim 1 in which said projectile is of a resilient nature and capable of being bounced upon a playing surface. 

1. Game apparatus comprising in combination a base having a periphery and adapted to be supported upon a surface in substantially horizontal position, a bearing mounted in said base intermediately of the periphery thereof, a shaft unit rotatably supported in said bearing substantially perpendicularly to said base and having a target loop on the upper end thereof, a flexible tether connected at one end to said shaft unit, a balllike projectile of small diameter than said target loop connected to the other end of said tether, said target loop being positioned a distance less than the diameter of the ball-like projectile above the top of said base, and a plurality of scoreindicating means on said base positioned radially outward from said shaft and circumferentially spaced from each other, whereby said projectile may be projected by a player through said loop on said shaft to dispose said projectile and tether at random chance positions relative to said score indicating means to effect a score thereby.
 2. The game apparatus according to claim 1 in which the upper surface portion of said base adjacent said bearing is at a higher elevation than the upper peripheral surface portion thereof, said base also having an annular inclined surface between the respective elevations of said base surface portions to facilitate the projection of said projectile by a player through said loop from said lower surface portion.
 3. The game apparatus according to claim 2 in which said score-indicating means are on said lower surface portion adjacent the periphery of said base.
 4. The game apparatus according to claim 2 in which said higher surface portion is provided with a plurality of openings larger in diameter than said projectile and positioned adjacent said shaft for reception of said projectile and thereby comprise part of said score-indicating means of said appaRatus.
 5. The game apparatus according to claim 4 in which said higher surface is concaved.
 6. The game apparatus according to claim 1 in which said score-indicating means comprise a series of substantially radially extending rib means spaced peripherally from each other and provided on the upper surface of said base adjacent the periphery thereof, whereby said tether will be disposed by gravity on one side or the other of said rib means to determine a score, and score value indicia being provided on the segments of said base between said rib means.
 7. The game apparatus according to claim 6 further including additional score-indicating means on said base comprising recesses positioned between said rib means and adapted to affect the scoring possibilities of the apparatus if the projectile becomes disposed in one of said recesses.
 8. The game apparatus according to claim 6 in which said tether is longer than the radial distance between said shaft and the periphery of said base.
 9. The game apparatus according to claim 1 in which said one end of said tether is connected to a ring freely slidable on said shaft unit and target loop thereof, and one end of said target loop being spaced from the adjacent shaft of said shaft unit adequately to permit said ring and tether to pass therethrough.
 10. The game apparatus according to claim 1 in which said projectile is of a resilient nature and capable of being bounced upon a playing surface. 